Heavens Fall (2006/Alumination)
Picture: C+ Sound: C Extras: C Film: B-
In a time
when racism has resurged, writer/director Terry Green’s Heavens Fall (2006) is a smart, even hard-hitting look at a real
life incident where a group of young African Americans sparred with a group of
Southern White males, with the bizarre result that the minority men were
accused of raping two white women.
The lie
goes so far that it becomes an ugly court case, the men were all sentenced to
the electric chair and the case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Enter attorney Sam Leibowitz (Timothy Hutton)
trying the case to expose the lies, hypocrisy, conspiracy and true intent of
the Alabama authorities. In its 105
minutes, a solid examination of the events and implications are laid out and
the result is a surprisingly good look at the case and America in 1933.
The rest
of the unknown cast plus known actors Leelee Sobieski and David Strathairn,
really deliver a palpable atmosphere of how problematic things were at the time
and remind us how little has changed. It
is a shame such a solid production went unnoticed when it first arrived, but
this DVD could correct that mistake and give this top-rate production the
credit it deserves.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X1 image is a little soft, but Director of
Photography Paul Sanchez does a better job of making the past come alive in
compositions and approach than expected.
The color is not bad, but slightly dulled. The Dolby Digital 2.0 is barely stereo and the
weak point of the disc, though we wonder if the problem is not audio form the
production, but mastering for this disc.
Extras include trailer and behind the scenes footage.
- Nicholas Sheffo
